Food for Thought

Within the next two weeks, chairman of the US House of Representatives agriculture committee, Collin Peterson, will table the first draft of a new US Farm Bill. It will provide the first real clues as to what US farm support policy will look like for the next five years - and how much they will spend.

There's still a long way to go. The agriculture committee will have to chew it over, then send it to the whole House for its approval. A similar process will go on in the Senate across the road on Capitol Hill. Only when a single text is agreed between the House and the Senate will it be sent to the Whitehouse for presidential approval. That could take until the end of the year - or longer if President Bush decides to veto it.

One thing that is already clear, however, is that the new Farm Bill will be crafted with US farmers' and ranchers' best interests in mind. While there is a grudging acceptance among congressmen that US farm policy needs to comply with world trade rules, there is no question of them trying to pre-empt the outcome of the Doha Development Round.

That is what the EU did with its 2003 CAP reforms, setting itself a "negotiating mandate" for the WTO. But now everyone wants the EU to go further in opening up markets and reducing producer support.

In contrast, the USA is looking to make only minor changes. It is more interested in keeping domestic farm support compatible with the current WTO agreement, not the next one.

"We want a Farm Bill that will be good for American farmers and ranchers, rather than good for the WTO," Mr Peterson recently told Farmers Weekly in Washington. What a refreshing change to hear politicians who really want to look after their farmers.